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[Albany Argus Extra.] 



THE DEMOCRATIC & FEDERAL POLICY. 



JHr. ittritturruB's Speed). 






3150* 

■ • 



Remarks of Mx. Jitflttunrajj, 

OF NEW-YORK, 

In the Assembly, in committee of the whole, Jan. 30 and Feb. 1, 1843, 

on the Governor's Message. 



[Reported for the Albany Argus.] 



Mr. McMURRAY having the floor, addressed 
the committee. He said he had supposed that the 
mild and conciliatory tone of the Governor 
throughout his message, would in some measure 
have secured him from the bitterness of assault, 
sometimes verging even into personalities, with 
which he had been visited in certain quarters. It 
had been usually the case — it had been for scve 
ral years past — that the message of the Executive 
had been the subject of comment and criticism 
more or less severe— and there had been some 
show of excuse for it, at least in the matter an.l 
manner of these documents. But the message 
submitted to us at this session, had little, very lit- 
tle, in it to call out any severity of attack whatever, 
either on the document itself, or the high function- 
ary who sent it there. But in the same degree that 
the document itself was remarkable for its plain, 
straight-forward sincerity, anil, he might say, 
studied deference to the views of political oppo- 
nents, so had the debates on that floor partaken in 
general of the very opposite traits. Certainly du- 
ring his connection with the legislature, he had 
never known tne document itself visited with so 
much harshness of invective. Nay more — to let 
alone the document— he had never known the 
Executive himself so freely assailed. 

The Executive (continued Mr. McM.), on the 
second page of his message, stated that if he did 
not mistake the leeling of the people, they desir- 
ed repose from high party excitement, and an 
exemption from the violent changes of measures 
and policy which were the result; and he indulg- 
ed the hope that the legislature would cooperate 
with him in acting on the principle of placing 
the public welfare above mere party considera- 
tions. Yet this very paragraph — this dignified 
appeal which the Governor makes to the legisla- 
ture — an appeal which I feel assured will meet 
with a warm response from the intelligent and 
well-meaning people of this slate — even this 
is, by the gentleman from Monroe, if not by 
the gentleman from Albany, [Mr. Hall in an 
under tone, "not by the gentleman from Al- 
bany"] is, by the gentleman from Monroe 

then (Mr. E. Strong), made a matter of re- 
proach and animadversion. What, exclaims 
the gentleman from Monroe, allow party ex- 
citement to cease? — party animosity to rage 
no longer? And then, as if to leave no doubt 
about the matter, the gentleman very pathetical- 
ly asks if there is to be no party excitement, 
what becomes of the whig party? Sir, in south- 
ern climes, the ocean is sometimes so clearly se- 
rene and transparent that even sailors on board 
the ships riding in the bays may see their anchors 
at the bottom, and the animated creation assigned 
to the deep playing beneath them. But when 



storms arise — when the heavens are shrouded in 
black, and clouds gather over the sky, it not un- 
frequently happens that a swell comes over the 
hitherto placid surface, upturning the sea from its 
foundations, and bringing up all that is putrid and 
foul to the surface. Then too it is that vessels moor- 
ed on this once chrystal ocean, so quietly and se- 
cure!y,become a prey to robbers and wreckers. So 
sir, it is in our political history. Where all is calm, 
and every thing clear and transparent, then may it 
with truth be said that government is well admi- 
nistered, and that society in all its forms is happy. 
The party which can only thrive by agitation and 
excitement, by calling up the stormy passions of 
the community — the party which has an existence 
only when the political and social elements are 
in commotion — is not one that deserves, or will 
receive, the confidence and support of an intelli- 
gent people, or that will minister to their wel- 
fare. 

When men are excited and maddened by poli- 
tical whirlwinds — when society from its very 
foundations is upheaved, by the stormy billows 
of passion — it is then that men, vile, corrupt, dis- 
honest, and before unknown, come to the surface 
and sport like sea birds in the tempest. It is then 
and then alone, that political gamblers, robbers 
and speculators, elevate and enrich themselves 
upon the spoils of society and amidst the common 
wreck of morality, of order, and of patriotism. 

This distinction I regard as perfectly characte- 
ristic of the politiical party which for the last 
few years has had in their keeping the destinies 
of the state and nation. And sir, it was a humi- 
liating confession, I conceive, to the associate 
partizans of the gentleman from Monroe, if not 
to himself, that the whig party could only live, 
move, and have a being in the midst of these ex- 
citements and tumults. Every man who desires 
the welfare of society and the happiness of the 
people should deprecate as one of the worst of 
evils that can happen to any community — the as- 
cendancy of such a party as this. Sir, I think the 
people will agree with the Executive, that party 
excitement should, as far as possible, be allayed. 

there is another passage in the message, pre- 
ceding the one I have quoted, which has also 
been attacked, and from a quarter unexpected to 
me- I allude to the paragraph in which the Go- 
vernor alludes to the fact that he is the first exec- 
utive whom the people have selec'ed from the 
agricultural portion of the community. Now, I 
do consider this as an era in the history of our 
institutions, and the Governor, in alluding to the 
fact, did but justice to the class with whom he is 
identified, and among whom he has been brought 
up. Is it not worthy of notice, that the people 
have selected a farmer to preside over the interests 



of the state? When has it occurred before?— 
Our institutions are constantly exhibiting de- 
velopments of the onward progress of society — 
showing day by day, that their effect is to equal- 
ize and level — bringing down the priile of birth, 
and elevating, ennobling and intelleciualizing the 
masses. Every grand development of this pro- 
gress I claim to be worthy of notice; and I re- 
peat, the Governor did but justice to the class 
with which he is associated, and to whieh he be- 
longs, in bringing this matter distinctly to the 
notice of the people. Was it necessary for the 
gentleman from Monroe, thu? contemptuously to 
treat one of our most intelligent classes? Claim- 
ing as he does to represent the farmers on every 
occasion? Claiming fo be their particular and 
exclusive friend, on this floor, did he exhibit any 
feeling of pride at the election of one of them? 
I present that the gentleman has no right again 
to speak here on behalf of the agriculturists. — 
After turning recreant to the feeling that ought 
to animate every farmer, let the gentleman 
hereafter close his mouth, and never rise 
again as their advocate. Gut the attempt has 
been made to impugn the statement that the Go- 
vernor is a farmer. Docs not the gentleman from 
Monroe know that the Governor was brought up 
among that class? Nay more, that he is one — 
that he never has left these associations except at 
the call of his country, when like Cinncinnatus of 
old, he has been summoned from the plough to 
assume the highest public trusts. I allege, 
what the gentleman from Monroe does not exhi- 
bit — the pride which every citizen ought to (eel 
at the exemplification of the fact, that under our 
government every class is open to preferment. 

Another matter, sir, which I would willingly 
pass over as a small matter. But although smaller 
than either of the others to which I have alluded, 
yet some importance has been attached to it from 
the fact, that the gentleman from Albany opened 
the way for the gentleman from Monroe to attack 
this portion of the message. I allude to that pas- 
sage — a short paragraph — in which the Governor 
speaks of the Catskill and Canajoharie railroad, 
and the extension of it into his own county as far 
as the Vly Summit. The gentleman from Albany, 
though he had assailed this paragraph, yet he dealt 
with it as he did with every thing else, as a gentle- 
man should do it; and, sir, tacitly at least, admitted 
that local attachment, unaccompanied as it was, 
with any recommendation of an appropriation, 
exhibited a feeling only of fondness to old asso- 
ciations which all honor and respect, and which 
every man would regret to see supplanted in his 
own case, by other and new attachments. But 
what says the gentleman from Monroe (Mr. E. 
Strong) ? His attack is as characteristic of him, 
as are the strictures of the gentleman from Alba- 
ny, of the latter. If I understood the gentleman 
from Monroe, he has imputed interested, if not 
corrupt motives to the Governor. The Governor 
lives in the vicinity of the Vly summit, says the 
gentleman from Monroe, and wants to look about 
him over acres enhanced in value by the termina- 
tion of a rail road upon his premises! It is due, if 
not to thegentleman himself, at least to the position 
he occupies here, to state that the Governor owns 
no land there, and has no interest direct or perso- 
nal in any property within seven miles of this pro- 
posed termination, or within five miles of any 
portion of the road. I appeal to the house to say, 
whether this was not a trivial, as well as mean and 



illiberal, comment. Let me put it to the recollec- 
tion of the gentleman who represents, or professes 
to represent a portion of the party which lays 
claim to all the decency in the country, if not the 
learning — for even that gentleman aspires to em- 
body in his person all the literature, grammar, 
orthography, etymology, syntax and prosody ex- 
tant— [Laughtei] — I put it to that gentleman to 
say whether it has been unusual of late years, to 
see references to rail roads, in being and in em- 
bryo, in messages from the Governor! I think, 
at all events, that while I have had a seat here, I 
have read messages from the late Executive 
particularly, wherein there were frequent, and 
marked, and repeated recommendations of railroad 
projects. And I can say that I never yet have 
known a man claiming to represent the party 
with which I act, put his finger upon any of 
these passages, and upon the strength of them, 
attempt to impute interested or sinister motives 
tothe Executive. And yet, was it unknown to us 
that the late Executive was interested in lands 
through which some of these rail roads were to 
pass? Sir, perhaps his private fortune depended 
upon the construction of the Erie rail road. 
But did he ever fail to bring it before the 
legislature with an importunity and earnestness 
unprecedented ? Was it not known that at 
the extra, session, when the credit and re- 
sources of the stale were prostrated, when this 
rail road company failed to meet its solemn en- 
gagements, and when the people were to be taxed 
for its recreant refusal or incapacity to pay — was 
it not known at that time that the explosion of a 
certain company at (he south, to which I need not 
allude more particularly, had developed some 
very awkward circumstances? Let me be under- 
stood. I make no allusion to the connexion be- 
tween Gov. Seward and that company, beyond 
what is necessary to illustrate my position. I do not 
believe that the then Governor was actuated in his 
annual recommendations by any other feeling than 
what he thought most pure, exalted and elevated 
patriotism. I attribute to him no other motive 
than the welfare and interest of the people, as he 
looked upon it. And I should consider any man 
of my own party, who should attempt to bring 
before this house the private affairs of the late 
Governor, or of any other whig, as unworthy the 
name of democrat. I merely bring forward the 
fact, by way of illustrating that as hypocrites oft- 
times make the loudest professions of religion — 
profligates descant upon virtue and purity — inebri- 
ates portray the blighting curse of thecup — so, too, 
it not unfrequently happens, that men who boast 
their gentility, and bandy opprobrious epithets with 
others, give in their own conduct the most glaring 
evidence of the absurdity of their arrogant pre- 
tensions — and to exhibit the contrast which really 
exists in the conduct and bearing of public men 
animated by the liberal principles of the democ- 
racy, and that of those imbued with the bitterness 
and intolerance which I believe to be inbred in 
those who assert the pretensions of federalism. 
In direct connexion with this, I might dwell upon 
an outrage upon the delicacy and refinement of 
social intercourse by the gentleman himself; but 
I believe it to be unnecessary. I refer to a mat- 
ter which has been drawn into this discussion, 
and which I believe incurred the reprobation of 
even the political friends of the gentleman from 
Monroe; but it is unnecessary — for there is a 
spontaneous feeling which always manifests itself 



upon any, the least outrage, upon, the convention- 
al decencies of- civilized society, and which never 
fails to visit with a stern rebuke the man 
who thus offends. I cannot allude, of course, 
in more definite terms to the outrage of which 
I complain. Gentlemen know to what I re- 
fer, and they will agree with me, that the man 
who ventures to drag into a discussion of this kind, 
matters purely social — the gossip that should be 
restricted to o!d mauls and women in their do- 
tage, and at the tea table— is beyond the reach of 
flagellation by mere words, even the most search- 
ing the English language supplies. Permit me 
to say, however, in regard to the sheep that figu- 
red so extensively in the speech of the gentleman 
from Monroe — that walked "hand in /i«/id*> with 
his masterover the hills — [Laughter] — that play- 
ed so many '•< ganiboZes" in the meadow — [Renew- 
ed laughter] — the "poor Billy" that was found 
in bad company, and who the gentleman meant 
to compare with himself — permit me to say, that 
that unfortunate sheep which lay in that miserable 
pen did not find among its associates — the vilest 
and scabbiest of them all — one more loathsome 
than the man who could use his privilege as a 
legislator to trespass on the fireside and the social 
circle. 

I now purpose to draw your attention to that 
portion of the message of his Excellency relating 
to the finances of the state, as applicable to its 
several funds — a matter of deep and absorbing 
interest to every portion of the people of the 
state, and a question wh'ch latterly has been the 
subject of most important legislation. 

At pages 16, 17 and 18 of the message, will be 
found a siatement of the condition of the more 
important funds, such as the school fund — (he 
literature fund — the United States deposite fund. 
There are also a number of sinking funds, insti- 
tuted for the several purposes designated ; also, 
the general fund and the canal fund, to which two 
latter I purpose mainly to call your attention. 

It will be seen that there remains to the gene- 
ral fund 33,797 acres of land, estimated to be 
worth $19,961, which yield no revenue ; and by 
reference to the canal fund, it will be seen that a 
large indebtedness exists in favor of the former. 
Indeed, the canals may be said to have swallowed 
up the general fund. Mr. Ruggles, at page 13 of 
his report, (No. 242, 1838,) says: "The general 
fund is neither squandered nor gone, but now 
exists in full vigor, invested in the canals." This 
fund was formerly large, productive and valuable. 
It was instituted for the purpose of the defrayment 
of the ordinary expenses incident to the manage- 
ment of the state government, and was of itself 
nearly, if not quite, sufficient for the purpose. 
Prior to and during the war of 1812, no (ax was 
levied for these purposes, and New-York — un- 
trammelled by debt — was left to direct all her 
energies to the prosecution of vigorous measures 
for attack and defence. On a fair accoun'ing for 
the salt tax — steam boat (ax — auction tax — land 
sales, and for other payments made by the gene- 
ral fund, and trie compound interest saved by these 
taxes an-J payments, I believe the Erie and Cham- 
plain canals should pay to the slate the yearly 
annuity, in the form of revenue, of at least $450,- 
000. But the whole fund has vanished. Inroads 
have been made upon it, from the commencement 
of the canal policy, alike by all parties, till it 
has all been squandered. It was at first borrow- 
ed; but latterly deliberately taken, without the 
hope or expectation of return. It has, in fact, as 



a fund, scarcely an existence ; but yet it has an 
income, derived from other sources, of considera- 
ble value. These consist of the revenue derived 
from the salt and auction duties, clerks' fees, and 
a contribution of $200,000 annually from the 
canal fund. 

In 1814, it will be seen by the report of the 
comptroller, of that year, that the principal 
of the general fund amounted to $4,396,943.97; 
and in 1815, when there was no state tax, it 
yielded of itself, for the support of government, 
a revenue of $317,475.82. In 1816, a tax of two 
mills was imposed. In 1819 it was reduced to 
one mill, and in 1825 to one-half a mill. In 1827, 
there was no state tax. Yet with these slight 
taxes from 1815 to 1826, such was the productive- 
ness of the general fund, that there was a contin- 
ued annual surplus of revenue over expenses — 
varying from $309,686 10 in 1816, to $32,981 70 
in 1825. Every year between 1815 and 1830 — 
with the exceptions of the years 1816, 1818 and 
1825 — depredations were made upon the principal 
of the general fund, amounting in the whole to 
$3,504,814 68. In the three years above alluded 
to, it was increased $452,139 36: So that in 
1830, this fund was reduced from $4,396,943 97, 
to $1,344,268 65, — which was the exact amount 
•of the general fund on the 1st December, 1829. 
Since that period, the balance then remaining has 
entirely disappeared, and the fund itself is largely 
in debt. 

Mr. Hoffman, in his report to the legislature, 
(ass. doc. 278, 1841) estimates the annual expen- 
ditures of the government at $915,725 86. The 
late whig comptroller, Mr. Collier, has with 
much ingenuily attempted to figure down this ex- 
penditure to a smaller sum. Still the fact of ex- 
penditure as stated by Mr. Hoflman, is unuenied. 
Now, although economy for the future is to be 
desired and expected, yet exigencies constantly 
arise, and against which no calculation can guard, 
demanding the resources of the state; and Mr. 
Hoffman argued that it was the safer course, in 
calculating the annual liabilities of the state, ra- 
ther to take things as Ihey were than to theorise 
upon what might possibly be. Thisestimate will 
be found, short as has been the period interven- 
ing, below what the growing wants of the state 
even now require, conducting the administration 
upon the most rigid basis of economy. The 
last year the payments from the general fund 
amount to $917,367 79— much beyond the es- 
timate staled by Mr. Hoffman, and denied so. 
perseveringly by the whig comptroller and his 
parly. 

Mr. Collier, in his report dated January 4fh 
1812, (seeass.doc. 15) objected to certain ap- 
propriation to the State Lunatic Asylum, to the 
State Hall, and alterations in the Capitol, as ex- 
traordinary and as not to be included in the cur- 
rent and ordinary expenses of the state. To this 
it was answered, that if any security could be gi- 
ven that such or other drafts upon the general 
fund equal in extent would notannually recur, the 
guarantee would be admitted; but in the nature 
of things it could not, and any one at all conver- 
sant with state legislation ought to have known 
that such annual drafts, if not for these identical 
objects, at all events for others, and perhaps to a 
greater amount, would never cease. It was then 
said, shall we willingly close our eyes to facts, 
and adopt dreams— to figures, and embrace theo- 
ries—to demonstrations, and hunt up problems of 
questionable solution/ Shall we turn from the 



inalterable decrees of the past, to dream, gape 
id wonder over the uncertain, unopened and un- 
healed book of the future? It was urged, that 
ith the wide spread disappointments experienc- 
i all around us— with the wreck of hopes, cal- 
lations, reputations and fortunes, every where 
;sible — that it was time for men and legislators 
> come down from the seventh heaven of specu- 
ation and to look at things with the light of na- 
ure and experience — with truth and soberness. 

Mr. Hoffman read the books as they ivere. Mr. 

Collier as he thought they ought to be. I will 

how the separate statement, put forth by eaeh as 

lie basis of policy for the legislature of 1842. — 

i'hey are, from the issues dependent upon these 

dculations, of exceeding importance. 

Mr. Hoffman in his report, submitted May 1st 

41, from the minority of the committee on 

lysand means, (ass. doc. 1841, No. 278, p. 26) 

.imates 

Che ordinary expenses of the state" at $913,725 96 
& ordinary income of the general fund at 401,935 47 

Which leaves an annual deficit of $466,790 39 

Mr. Collier on the contrary, (see ass. doc. 1842 
1. 1, doc. 15, p. 9) assuming the ground before 
ted, puts down the income of the general fund; 

^alt duties at $150,000 00 

auction duties, 200,000 00 

lerks fees and other incidental receipts- 70,000 00 
Annual contribution from canal fund, • • • 200,000 00 

$620,000 00 

1 he puts down the 

;ecial expenses of government, at $500,000 00 

antingencies and special appropriations, 100,000 00 

$600,000 00 

' ving an ordinary balance in favor of the trea- 
, of $20,000 00 per annum, 
here is a great difference between these cal- 
tions of the " ordinary revenue" and expen- 
Mr. Hoffman's was a statement from the 
;s of the current year. Mr. Collier's, how- 
, discarded these as unusual in amount, and 
mted what in his opinion would be the state 
atters usually. Which was right? Let us 

efer you sir, to the recent report of the 
stroller, page 38 and 39, by which it appears 
the «* deficiency in the revenue of the gene- 
md,on the 30th Sept. 1842," was $435,416 24. 
hus has the result shown, how perfectly idle 
r.be calculations by which it was attempted to 
> the hand put forth to rescue the state from 
abyss of debt and degradation, into which it 
5 about to plunge. 

I'here would have been some show of excuse 

haps for these miscalculations, had not the 

lerience of the past furnished lights, too plain 

>e unseen or mistaken. In 1832, the excess of 

ments over receipts, was §195,295 — in 1833, 

729— in 1834, $207,195— in 1835, $239,488— 

836, $298,712— in 1837, 332,466. In 1838 

whigs came into power, and its effect upon 

'• ordinary expenses" of the government is as 

inly marked, as it will be shown hereafter to 

. e been upon the extraordinary expenses, grow- 

• out of the change. In 1838, $594,372— in 

-9, $453,353— in 1840, $466,935. With a full 

wledge of these annual deficiencies, how the 

g comptroller could estimate an annual bal- 

ie in favor of the general fund of $20,000, is 

cret revealed only to whig mathematicians. 

have before stated that a fund, once so large 



as by it$ revenue aJone to defray all the ordinary 
expenses of the state government, is entirely 
squandered. I now wish to draw your attention 
(o another fact, most alarming to the friends of 
education, and of republicanism. It appears by 
the report of the Comptroller (see p. 39) that, of 
the capital and revenue of the school fund there 
is due from the general fund, $120,099 61— to the 
literature fund, $18,880 85— to the bank fund, 
$219,196 66— to the United States deposilc fund, 
$7,000 00— to the mariners fund, $25,212 46.— 
Thus has the general fund in the first instance 
plundered and robbed itself, and in its destitution 
and poverty commenced a system of depredation 
upon still more sacred trusts which, unless arrest- 
ed, will consume sooner or later those noble 
foundations, instituted for the best and most be- 
nevolent of purposes — for the education of the 
people, and for the preservation of our institu- 
tions; funds which we are by every principle 
bound to guard, as we would from profanation 
that which we esteem precious and sacred. 

These facts show that the late whig system of 
state policy, tends not only, as I shall hereafter 
prove, to degrade our nation in the eyes of Chris- 
tendom, but more, that if pursued it will entail 
upon posterity a perpetual curse— by depriving 
the unfortunate of the provisions humanity has 
set apart for their relief — the children of the re- 
public of the means now so amply endowed for 
their education — and the blind, dumb and insane 
of the asylums and shelter furnished them. The 
bitter curse will be fulfilled, and the sins of the 
fathers will be visited upon the children. Let 
us, as we love our country, and its institutions 
having for their corner stone knowledge and dif- 
fused education, pause. Let us, as we would 
avert from the yet unborn, poverty, ignorance 
and wretchedness, check these inroads. Let us, 
if we would avoid the deep and bitter curses of 
oar children's children, plunged in degradation, 
anarchy aud crime, at once arrest these depreda- 
tions. Let us, doing our duty to humanity and 
our country, one and all, preserve from sacrile- 
gious invasion these funds, and leave them whole 
and entire — the best and the noblest of gifts, the 
patriot's legacy, for those who shall succeed us. 
This has been a remarkable discussion for sto- 
ries. The gentleman from Albany has so far 
come down from his stilted legal gravity as to 
give us a story. The gentleman from Monroe 
has told us two or three. In regard to the story 
of the gentleman from Albany about the apples 
— I like that story. Of all stories, fish stories not 
excepted, no stories equal the apple stories. My 
taste agrees with that of the gentleman from Al- 
bany in that particular. There is love, and reli- 
gion, and poetry and philosophy in an apple. It 
was to an apple that Newton himself was indebt- 
ed for the first hint to his system of philosophi- 
cal induction and the principle of gravitation. It 
was an apple that brought sin into the world, and 
changed it from a paradise of love, into the arena 
of strife, turmoil and contention, in which we 
find it. It was an apple that set all heaven into 
commotion, if the traditions of the old mytholo- 
gy are to be believed. An apple thrown by the 
Goddass ot Discord inscribed " Let the fairest 
take it," made the very throne of Jupiter uneasy 
and turned the celestial abode up side down. It 
was an apple, that prompted that gallant fellow 
Paris, when Juno offered power as her bribe — 
Minerva, wisdom— and Venus, the most beautiful 
of women — to do as men have done in every age 



%w&astbey always will, choose the last. The 
■g-entleraan from Albany has told us that it was 
-one of his youthful sports to visit a certain apple 
orchard — a sport not unusual at a certain age. — 
The apples were remarkably good;; and the own- 
•er was remarkably proud of the apples. Upon 
•She repetition of one of these visits to the or- 
chard, he put his veto on the practice — telling 
the boys *« I know what you come for — but there's 
<no apples for you — you shan't have any— and the 
best apples you ever saw." The gentleman made a 
•queer admission in applying this to a portion of 
the message, in which he says the Governor tells 
«us " these internal improvements are very good 
things, very excellent things — but you can't have 
them." Why sir, I apprehend the Governor is 
yight as well as the owner ef the apples. The 
-difficulty is the same in both cases. The gentle- 
man when a boy probably had not the pennies in 
8iis pocket to pay fer the apple£, or he would 
have preferred to buy them. So here, the state 
has no money to pay for these very excellent 
things — and the gentleman in seeking them under 
the circumstances, is only carrying out in his 
manhood on the floor of the legislature, the same 
principles which led him when a boy to visit that 
■apple orchard [Laughter] — thus giving another 
striking illustration of the adage ** that men are 
fout children of a larger growth." [Laughter.] 

I now will call yoer attention to the canal fund. 
This is a matter involving to a yet deeper degree 
the credit, if not the honor of the state. Public 
attention in our own state, in our sister republics, 
and even among the nations of Europe, has been 
for many years directed to eur course and policy. 
Our action involves, for good or evil, our own 
character and the reputation of the American 
people. New-York, by the construction of that 
mighty work, the Erie canal, gave paternity to 
that system of state enterprize now known as in- 
ternal improvement. In our track, have our sis- 
ter republics followed-, our enterprize have they 
■Emulated — even surpassed; our embarrassments 
they have more than shared.; and our extrication 
will stimulate and cheer them, or our financial 
immersion will deluge and destroy them. Great 
as is our own debt, it forms but a small portion of 
the liabilities, the offspring of our system, and 
for which we are to a certain extent responsible; 
and ample as are the means which we must bring 
4o bear for its liquidation, yet more ample are 
those which the magic influence of our example 
will call forth from the now depressed energies 
of the republics of this Union. 

It appears by a report recently made by the Sec- 
retary of the Treasury of the United States, that 
the aggregate indebtedness of the several states 
amounts to $198,818,376; of which New-York 
owes about $27,000,000. Shall the American 
character be exalted, even beyond the glory of 
its martial and its naval conquests, by its honora- 
ble payment — or shall it be sunken into a bottom- 
less pit of infamy and degradation, by its dishon- 
est and base repudiation? The issue rests with 
this legislature. And I call upon members to le- 
gislate with a full sense of the results dependent 
upon their action. 

Our canal policy dates from the Herculean task 
Of building the Erie and Champlain canals, and to 
the origin of this great enterprize I must call 
XOor attention. I shall of necessity be obliged to 
t/aee the action of our state government, and the 
policy of parties, through the several stages of 



its hiccption,Jcompletion, and subsequent enlarge 
ment. 

A glance at the map of the state showed to the 
earlier settlers of the north and west, the impor- 
tance of some navigable communication betweer 
the ocean lakes of the interior and our Hudsor 
communicating with the sea board. The under 
taking seemed so stupendous, that many lookei 
upon its accomplishment as utterly beyond thf 
resources and means of the state. And even tht 
most sanguine paused, before they dared venture 
the resources of the state, unaided by the arm ot 
the federal government, upon a work involving 
such a great expenditure. 

I find that on the 8th day of April, 1811, an act 
was passed by the legislature, appointing Gover- 
neur Morris, Stephen Van Rensselaer, De Witt 
Clinton, William North, Simeon De Witt, Tho- 
mas Eddy, Peter B. Porter, Robert R. Livingston, 
and Robert Fulton, commissioners for taking into 
consideration all matters relating to inland navi- 
gation. The commissioners were authorized to 
make application to congress, or any state or ter- 
ritory, and request them toco-operate with New- 
York in the project of improving the navigation 
between the Hudson river and the great western 
lakes; and also to receive subscriptions from in- 
dividuals and companies for the same purpose. 
This is the earliest trace I can find ot our canp. 
policy. I allude to it here, for the purpose o 
showing that to the credit or disgrace of origina 
ting the canal policy — for the question remain: 
yet to be solved which it shall be — neither part? 
is exclusively entitled. The commissioners wer 
prominent men from the ranks of both the repub- 
licans and federalists; and in the senate and as- 
sembly, the act above alluded to received th« 
support of prominent men of both parties. 

In 1817, the state entered upon the constructor 
of the Erie and Champlain canals. In 1825 
this grand enterprize was completed ; and i» 
1836— before Gov. Seward was inducted intr 
office— the entire cost of the construction of thesi 
canals was cither defrayed, or the funds provider 
and set apart for its payment. Well might Gov 
Seward, in contemplating the honorable termina- 
tion of this project, in his message of 1839, ex- 
claim with just pride and congratulation, " His 
tory furnishes no parallel to the financial aehievf 
ments of this state." 

I can well believe, sir, that upon entering o- 
the performance of the high trust to which l 1 
had been chosen — on taking a survey of the cond 
tion of the state— on looking at its augmenting re 
sources, its growing population, and daily incrca 
sing wealth— that a feeling of honorable pride a 
the conquests of the past, and of glowing hope i: 
thc anticipations of the future, may have animatei 
his Excellency. The Erie canal was complete! 
and paid for. The lateral canals, running thioug ! 
its most fertile valleys, were also finished. The O 
wego — the Cayuga and Seneca — the Crooked Lai 
— the Chemung, and Chenango canals, were fin 
ished throughout, and put in operation. And ye- 
notwithstanding the greatness of all theseenter 
prizes— including the construction of more thar 
two hundred miles of canal, in addition to tl. 
Erie and Champlain canals — the entire debt of tl 
sUte in February, 1837, was only $7,954,114 4> 
and the amount of debt over the funds on han. 
was only $4,540,475 50. Governor Seward, thei 
when he came into power, found finished to hi 
hand* all these grand works of internal improve 



inent, of which he so complacently boasts. He 
and his party had about as much to do with any 
successful project of improvement, as they had 
with the building of the pyramids of Egypt. 
Their financial skill has been shown only in 
squandering the money of the people, without 
the merit of having any thing to show for it. 

Having above shown the grand results perfected 
and accomplished prior to the election of Gov. 
Seward, I shall proceed to trace the causes of our 
state policy anterior to that time, and afterwards 
to exhibit the reasons of the disasters consequent 
thereto. 

The policy prior to 1837, was the paying poli- 
cy. The policy subsequent thereto, was the bor- 
rowing policy. Previous to 1837, internal im- 
provements — however delusive, reckless, and 
wild were many of the projects devised — were 
nevertheless based upon sound principlesof finance 
and economy : subsequent thereto, they were built 
upon dreams and speculation. The results of 
the former were permanent and enduring : of the 
latter, momentary, transient and incomplete. — 
The one was a continued and augmenting power : 
the other, in fact and in name, a mere " impulse." 
How was the expense of the building of the 
Erie canal proposed to be defrayed, when first 
projected? 

Immediately upon entering upon the construc- 
tion of the Erie and Champlain canals, the state 
provided, by tax, a sinking fund to pay the inter- 
est which might accrue upon the public debt in- 
curred in consequence; and the auction duties — 
the tax on steamboat passengers — and the salt tax, 
were constituted a sinking fund for that purpose. 
Mr. Hoffman, in his minority report, 1841, page 
2, states that without the aid of these taxes, the 
Erie and Champlain canal debt at its completion 
would have been $10,272,316 75— that the ac- 
tual expenditure for the work itself was $8,401,- 
394 12, and that by the mere operation of this 
tax the Erie and Champlain canal debt in 1826 
was only $7,737,770 99; in other words, that the 
debt had been reduced by the effect of these taxes, 
in actual payments, $2,534,545 76. 

So sacred did the people of this state consider 
the obligation to provide immediate means for 
the payment of the canal debt, that in that very 
instrument which guarantees to us our civil rights 
— the constitution of our state — was a fund set 
apart — a tax imposed — and a pledge given which 
should be, for the time at least, placed beyond the 
reach of partial and corrupt legislation. Article 
7th, sec. 10th of constitution adopted in 1821, 
thus provides: "Rates of toll not less than those 
agreed to by the Canal Commissioners and set 
forth in their report to the legislature on the 
twelfth of March, one thousand eight hundred and 
twenty one, shall be imposed on and collected from 
all part of the navigable communications between 
the Great Western and South Western lakes and 
the Atlantic Ocean, which now are or hereafter 
shall be made and completed: and the said tolls, 
together with the duties on the manufacture of all 
salt, as established by the act of the fourteenth of 
April, on thousand eight hundred and seventeen, 
and the duties on all goods sold at auction, ex- 
cepting therefrom the sum of thirty-three thou- 
sand five hundred dollars, otherwise appropriated 
by the said act, and the amount of the revenue 
established by the act of the legislature of the 
thirtieth of March, one thousand eight hundred 
and twenty, in lieu of the tax upon steam -boat 
passengers, shall be and remain inviolably appro- 



priated and applied to the completion of such naviga- 
ble communications, and to the payment of the inter- 
est and re-imburscment of the capital of the money 
already borrowed or which hereafter shall be borrowed 
to make and complete the same." 

By an amendment to the constitution, ratified 
by the people in 1835, it is provided that" when- 
ever a sufficient amount of money shall be col- 
lected and safely invested for the re-imbursement 
of such part as may then be unpaid of the money 
borrowed for the construction of the Erie and 
Champlain canal, the tenth section of the seventh 
article of the constitution of thi3 state, so far as 
it relates to the amount of duties on the manufac- 
ture of salt, and the amount of duties on goods 
sold at auction, shall cease and determine." This 
was done in 1836, as appears by Ass. doc. No. 3, 
1837, pages C5 to 71, and thus by a policy on fi- 
nance as comprehensive and wise as the project 
itself was grand and magnificent, were the Erie 
and Champlain canals built and paid for. The 
surveyors, engineers and builders, who planned 
and constructed that inland river, will command 
the admiration of ages and generations to come; 
but ever more are to be admired the architects of 
that scheme of finance and the constructors of 
that sound and wise system, that provided as the 
work progressed, with prudent forecast the means 
whereby to pay the cost of its construction. 

The remarks of the gentleman from Monroe, 
on the canal policy, it is but justice to say, apart 
from the personalities and coarseness which I 
have felt it my duty to comment upon with some 
severity, were characterized by great ingenuity 
and ability. Indeed I consider his speech one of 
the most dangerous and plausible efforts of the 
kind I have ever heard from his side of the house. 
Though I have not his personal knowledge and 
experience, the book of history is open to me, 
and fortified by its revelations, I will demolish the 
structure he has so laboriously and ingeniously 
erected. 

The committee here rose and reported. 

On resuming, Feb. 1st, Mr. McMukkav said 
he might, as far as he himself was concerned, as- 
sume another position. The gentleman asks 
whether he, at the age of three score, is to be in- 
structed by " young men scarcely out of their 
leading strings." I might, taking the position he 
points out to us, say — with the errors of the past 
the young democracy have nothing to do — for 
these we arc so far responsible in that we listen 
aright to the responses of history, that we read 
correctly its pages, take warning from the expe- 
rience of others therein unfolded, and observe 
the beacon lights it furnishes. For our own acts 
we are and ought to be accountable, not for the 
acts of those who have preceded us, however' 
near the alliances that bind us. "Let the dead 
bury their dead;" but let the young democracy 
know that their mission is for the living; and to 
relieve labor from the iron shackles of debt, tax- 
es and monopolies. It is not necessary to take 
the stand above stated. Fortunately for the de- 
mocratic party, sage and wise men have mainly 
governed her counsels, and I am able, notwith- 
standing the assaults made upon the action of that 
parly for the last twenty-five years, to furnish 
not only a full, satisfactory and triumphant vindi- 
cation of its policy, in connexion with canals, 
but to fasten upon our opponents all the enormi- 
ties growing out of the system. 

The gentleman from Monroe, with great inge- 
nuity, commences his argument, by selecting from 



a file of books and documents, a report of Col. 
Young to the legislature in 1825. This is follow- 
ed up by the introduction of extracts from 
reports of Mr. Hoffman in 1834, and of other men 
of undoubted standing in the democratic ranks. — 
These all speak of the necessity of an enlarge- 
ment of the Erie and Champlain canals, at some 
future time. Here the gentleman triumphantly 
exclaims, as though it were really a victory 
that our own party sanctioned the enlargement, 
and that the prominent men among us advocated 
it. Sir, I might have saved the gentleman much 
of the trouble to which he has put himself, in 
wading through such an immense pyramid of 
documents, and the house two hours of time. I 
will, even now, put in as the lawyers say, a "cog- 
novit" for all of it. The fact of the matter is, 
that as in the original construction, prominent 
men of both parties were foremost in advocating 
the work — so too in the enlargement, sound men 
of both parties conceded its necessity. But what 
does this prove? Only that the work, grand as it 
was in its origin, was not sufficiently capacious 
for the prospective wants of the community. It 
does not touch the system of finance — at present, 
the question under consideration. The enlarge- 
ment may have been delusive, the laterals cer- 
tainly were absurd^ but the system of finance 
adopted to carry them on was perfect. The fact 
is that respecting the propriety, the remote ne- 
cessity, of enlarging the dimensions of the Erie 
and Champlain canals, little difference of opinion 
existed. It never was so much a question of en- 
largement, as of the mode in which, the iime du- 
ring which, and the means whereby, it was to be 
done. I will prove this by reference to the very 
next authority introduced by the gentleman him- 
self. It is the session laws of 1835, page 313, 
sec. 1st — " The Canal Commissioners are hereby 
authorized and directed to enlarge and improve 
the Erie canal, and construct a double set of locks 
therein, as soon as the Canal Board maybe of the 
opinion that the public interest requires the im- 
provement." 

Now it is most undeniable that this act was 
passed at a period when the democratic party were 
in the ascendancy, in all departments of the Go- 
vernment. And had it begun and ended, as quo- 
ted by the gentleman from Monroe, his victory 
would have been complete — the inception of the 
enlargement with all its financial enormities 
would have been palmed upon us as its origina- 
tors. I, for one, would acknowledge the error 
and abandon the argument. But fortunately for 
the party thus assailed, the extract read by him 
forms but one, and the opening section of the act 
— the remainder of it was not deemed worthy of 
notice — or perhaps what is probable, if quoted, it 
would have jarred harshly with his position. I 
will rectify the omission. The first section directs 
the enlargement, a matter about which there was 
then little difference of opinion — the sixth pro- 
vides how the cost shall be paid. This is now, 
and always has been the chief topic of differ- 
ence between the democratic party on the one 
hand, and the whigs, allied with the improvement 
interest, on the other. 

" j 6. The cost of constructing, completing and main- 
taining the works authorized by this act, shall be paid 
by the Commissioners of the Canal Fund, out of any 
moneys which may be on hand, belonging to the Erie and 
Champlain canal fund ; but the accounts and expendi- 
tures under this act shall be kept separate and distinct 
from the accounts and expenditures, for the ordinary re- 
pair and maintenance of the Erie canal." 



Thus it will be seen, that although the enlarge- 
ment was, as stated by the gentleman from Mon- 
roe, authorized by the act of 1835, yet that very 
act so guards and restricts the power of the com- 
missioners, as to prevent them from increasing 
even a single dollar the debt of the state, by lim- 
iting their operations to the expenditure solely of 
the surplus revenue of the canals — but limited as 
is the power given by this act, even this is re- 
stricted. 

" § 8. The commissioners shall report to the legisla- 
ture their proceedings under this act, within thirty days 
after the commencement of each session." 

'' § 9. After the year one thousand eight hundred and 
thirty seven, the expenditures by virtue of this act, shall 
be so limited as to leave from the canal revenues, with- 
out reference to the auction and salt duties, an annual 
income to the state of at least three hundred thousand 
dollars over and above all ordinary repairs and expendi- 
tures on the Erie and Champlain canals." 

" § 10. No farther expenditures shall be made pursu- 
ant to the provisions of this act, than are necessary to 
construct the additional locks and works connected there- 
with, to enlarge the canal in the vicinity of said locks, so 
far as may be necessary to facilitate the passage of 
boats through the same, and for the purchase of such 
lands, and the extinguishment of such claims for dama- 
ges, as the commissioners may deem it expedient to se- 
cure and extinguish, until a sufficient sum shall have 
been collected and invested from the canal revenues, 
fully to discharge the Erie and Champlain canal debt." 

So much for the act of 1835. Instead of open- 
ing the way for the profligacy of late years, it will 
be seen that it does but little else than provide for 
reconstructing decaying locks, while the powers 
of the commissioners in the matter of the enlarge- 
ment are so guarded, that they possess no au- 
thority whereby they can increase the debt of the 
state. The borrowing policy was not yet begun. 
If the actual cost of the work should have proven 
ten times more than the estimates, the result in 
this respect would not have been altered — the 
time during which it was to be effected, would 
by the increase of cost have been extended, but 
no debt in any event incurred. 

Looking into the past, we cannot fail to see 
that during the years 1835 and 1836, great cor- 
ruptions had crept into legislation. Old land- 
marks were lost sight of. But the more speedy 
enlargement was not one of the errors of that day. 
This was done, as I will show, in 1S38, by the 
whigs. The building of the lateral canals was 
folly, and of the Genesee Valley and Black Riv- 
er, madness and infatuation, to use no harsher 
terms. For these I am no apologist. The weak 
and corrupt granting of bank charters in 1835 and 
1836, caused the " suspension" of 1837 — placed 
the whigs in power in 1838— and gave the man- 
agement of affairs to Ruggles, Seward and Collier 
— the late political firm of " Snap, Gammon & 
Quirk." Their policy was to make all the mo- 
ney they could— borrow all — spend all— and pay 
nothing. This error in finance, in five short years 
brought the slate credit to the very verge of bank- 
ruptcy. The expulsion of the democrats from 
power, and the speedy ruin of the whigs in the 
federal government, was clearly attributable to 
financial errors. These are only a part of the 
universal history of parties and nations. If good 
financial management does not always ensure suc- 
cess, yet financial errors, are always attended with 
a swift fatality. The leaders of parties and na- 
tions must therefore not only understand what are 
the requisites of a sound and safe system of finance, 
but they must have the eourage to secure and 
maintain it. For if they lack this wisdom, OP 
fail in the forecast and courage, they must doom 



8 



to an ignominious death their party, and scourge 
and ruin their county. The currency must be 
sound, the revenue must be solid and sufficient. — 
It may be hard to make them so — or keep them 
so — but it must be done; for without them there 
can be no successful industry — no successful trade 
— no successful party — no happy people. 

A just retribution for the bank legislation above 
stated brought our opponents into power in 1838; 
and from that period to the commencement of the 
present year, they have in one or the other of the 
branches of the government retained power. — 
1838 commences their career — 1842, inclusive, 
ends it. 

On the 13th day of February 1838, Mr. G. W. 
Patterson, a leading and influential member of the 
whig party, and, in 1839, Speaker of the Assem- 
bly, introduced the following resolutions, out of 
which grew a change in the system of enlarge- 
ment, and also out of which grew the report of 
the canal commissioners of the date of March 10, 
1838, introduced by the gentleman from Monroe, 
as authority on his side, as though it were a vo- 
lunteered recommendation emanating from them. 
The gentleman, in quoting the law of 1835, knew 
where to stop ; so, too, he knows where to begin. 
Now, how did the report of the canal commis- 
sioners, signed by the present Governor, get into 
the house? I hold in my hand the assembly jour- 
nal of 1838, page 362. I quote therefrom: 

" On motion of Mr. G. W. Patterson, 

" Resolved, That the canal commissioners be 
directed to report to the house, as speedily as cir- 
cumstances will permit, information on the fol- 
lowing subjects: 

(( The number and location of the double locks 
which they have determined to construct, under 
the acts for the enlargement and improvement of 
the Erie canal. 

[Mr. McMurhay here read the resolutions. 
They are too much in detail to extract. We give, 
however, one or two of them.] 

* l To commence and prosecute the enlargement of the 
canal through the mountain ridge near Lockport, at 
Little Falls, and at such other places where the im- 
mediate commencement of the enlargement is most 
necessary to facilitate the navigation of the canal. 

"To present the viewsof the canal commission- 
ers respecting the most practical plan of opera- 
tions by which the completion of the double 
locks on the canal may be most promptly effected, 
independent of its immediate enlaigement, and 
any items of expense that will be neoessary to 
accomplish that object not already designated in 
this resolution, and the portion thereof that will 
be incurred during the present year, together with 
the amount of appropriations already made by 
law for the enlargement of the canal, and the 
portions thereof now under their control during 
the present year. 

« To report the estimated expense of enlarging 
the canal through the mountain ridge, and the 
time which will probably be required for its 
completion." 

The above resolutions are important in them- 
selvesand in their results, and show how minutely 
and how much in detail the canal commissioners 
are " directed" to report. 

On the 10th of March, 1838, the canal commis- 
sioners submitted to the assembly their report in 
answer, in which, they premise that the "variety of 
information requested by the resolution, embra- 
cing the various branches of the work in ques- 
tion, under several subdivisions and various views, 



cannot with much accuracy be given in every 
case. The answers of the commissioners, there- 
fore, being the best their present means enable 
them to give, must in some instances depend on 
estimates and calculations somewhat uncertain in 
their results." 

Answers are then given, much in detail, n©t 
necessary to dwell further upon. I will make 
one extract, however, from their report. At page 
10, they say, " In answer to that part of the reso- 
lution that directs the report of " the amount of 
appropriations made by law for the enlargement 
of the canal, and the portion thereof now under 
their control, or which may be expected to be 
under their control during the present year," the- 
commissioners say that " the act of May 11, 1835 r 
authorizing the enlargement and improvement of 
the Erie canal, appropriated the proceeds or in- 
come of the Erie and Champlain canal fund to 
that object, — but limited the expenditures, so as 
to leave the annual income to the state at least 
$300,000, over and above all ordinary repairs and 
expenditures on the Erie and Champlain canals; 
and that by tha act of May 16, 1836, chap. 356, 
$400,000 is to be loaned annually by the commis- 
sioners of the canal fund to the treasury of the 
state, for the use and benefit of the general fund, 
from the monies belonging to the canal fund. It 
appears, therefore, that the amount of available 
appropriations made by law for the enlargement 
of the canal, is the revenue or income of the Erie 
and Champlain canal fund, after deducting all ex- 
penses for ordinary repairs and expenditures on 
the Erie and Champlain canals, and the $400,000 
to be annually loaned to the state treasury." 

By reference to Assembly Journal of that year, 
page 543, it will be seen that it was " Ordered, 
That the said communication [report of the canal 
commissioners] be referred to the standing com- 
mittee on canals and internal improvements" — 
Mr. Patterson's committee. 

The extract from the report, last above quoted, 
completely overthrows the position of the gentle- 
man from Monroe. Thus the gentleman's own 
friends desert him in his desperate and hopeless 
effort. 

On the 13th of March, 1838, the whig leader, 
Mr. Patterson, (see Assembly Journal, page 566,) 
" from the standing committee on canals and in- 
ternal improvements, to which were referred the 
several petitions praying for the enlargement, 
and also the report of the canal commissioners, 
brought in a report favorable thereto," of which 
ten times the usual number were ordered printed ; 
and a bill entitled " An act to provide for the 
more immediate enlargement of the Erie canal," 
was at the same time introduced. 

The bill as passed will be found in the session 
laws of 1838, chap. 269. It directs the commis- 
sioners of the canal fund to "borrow on the cre- 
dit of the state." This is the commencement of 
the new system — the whig borrowing system — 
the lauded impulse system. And I have traced 
its paternity so conclusively, that my position 
cannot be overthrown or denied. The act, as re- 
ported by Mr. Patterson, directs the commission- 
ers to put the work under contract, so as to com- 
plete it in five years. As passed, however, the 
five years are stricken out. 

The legislature of 1838 appropriated, under the 
above act, $4,000,000. Nor did they stop here. 
$3,000,000 were given to the New-York and Erie 
rail road: thus by two acts, in one session, more 
than doubling the whole indebtedness of the i 



11 



incurred during twenty years by the democratic 
party, in prosecuting and completing more than 
six hundred miles of canals. But even this, 
large as it may appear, was not sufficiently com- 
prehensive to satisfy the « impulse feeling." At 
the same session, aid was granted to the Catskill 
and Canajoharie rail road company, to the amount 
of $200,000— to the Ithaca and Owego company, 
$315,700 — to the Auburn and Syracuse company, 
$200,000. Thus adding to the state debt, during 
the first year of whig rule, $7,790,000. 

In 1839, the whigs, then in the ascendancy in 
the Assembly, passed appropriations to the amount 
of $4,815,000. The state, was saved this addition 
to its debt, by the firmness of a democratic senate. 

The gentleman from Monroe has also charged 
the New-York and Erie rail road upon the demo- 
cratic party. The whigs have a great propensity 
to desert their bantlings, and — as if fearful of 
their own reputation — to father them upoti others. 
I have exposed the attempt in the case of the ca- 
nal; I will do the same thing with the rail road. 

This road has paid its respects to the legisla- 
ture, annually, for about ten years. I believe it 
has not failed to present the " compliments of the 
season," at any year during that period. In 1832, 
the legislature granted the company a charter, 
with a capital of $10,000,000, which was to be 
all subscribed before the company could go into 
operation. In 1833, the legislature was induced 
to permit the company to go into operation when 
$1,000,000 should be subscribed. In 1834, they 
ask the state to survey the route at the expense of 
the people — which is granted them. In 1835, 
they are emboldened to ask aid of the state. A 
bill is introduced, but is lost in the house. In 
1836, an act is passed, loaning them the credit of 
the state, on the following conditions: 

State stocks were to be issued, to the amount of 
$600,000, when a single track was finished from 
the Delaware and Hudson canal to the Chenango 
canal ; $700,000 when built from the Chenango 
canal to the Allegany river; $300,000 when con- 
structed from the Allegany river to Lake Erie; 
and $400,000 when constructed from the Delaware 
and Hudson canal to the Hudson river; and an 
additional $1,000,000 when a double track had 
been laid down upon the whole route. This loan 
was a perfectly safe one for the state, and a libe- 
ral one to the company. The people, had the 
l'oad been built upon this plan, would never have 
been defrauded of a cent. But the company never 
received a dollar under the act. It was not libe- 
ral enough to suit the purposes of the speculators 
having it in charge. And hence, in 1838, we 
find them procuring from a « convenient'" whig 
legislature, an alteration of the law, to suit their 
purposes, and which has resulted in defrauding 
the state to the amount of $3,000,000 by the most 
ingenious system of legislative plunder ever devis- 
ed. The plan is so changed in its features as to ab- 
solve the company from any safe guarantee to the 
state — permitting them to draw from the state a 
dollar for every dollar expended by the company, 
to the amount of $3,000,000. In 1840, even this 
munificence is transcended, by increasing the loan 
to two dollars for every one expended by the 
company. And now, sir, we find them here again 
— bankrupt as they are, having violated their sol- 
emn engagements to a defrauded people— holding 
in their hands a message of absolution from Gov. 
Seward, unblushingly entering this hall, and de- 
manding the conversion of the loan into a gift. 
It is time to cast them forth, or they will come 



here to deceive and corrupt till doomsday. 

The gentleman from Chemung, (Mr. Hatha- 
way,) charged that " Governor Seward had so 
conducted the administration, as to destroy the 
credit of the state." 

Mr. Strong : Not destroy — " run down" were 
his words. 

Mr. Hathaway : I don't care which; either 
will do. 

Mr. McMurray: Yes— either will answer my 
purpose, as I can prove both. And I will give 
authority the gentleman from Monroe, and his 
party, dare not gainsay. I will first show, by 
whig authority, how they found it; and I will 
then prove, by figures, facts, and references that 
cannot be denied, how they left it. I will let 
Gov. Seward tell the story in his own words. I 
now read from his first message, 1839, page 22: 

" The following is a brief statement of the en- 
tire indebtedness of the state at the close of the 
last fiscal year." Here follows a statement in 
detail, not necessary to follow out; I give the 
footing: "Balance of state debt over funds on 
hand, $6,728,687 26." 

At page 23, he says :;" The Erie and Champlain 
canal fund alone, as has been seen, yields a nett 
revenue, after paying all legitimate charges upon 
it, and all deficiencies of the auxiliary canals, of 
$718,650 91." 

Again: "History furnishes no parallel to the 
financial achievements of this state. It has sur- 
rendered its share of the national domain, and 
relinquished for the general welfare all the reve- 
nues of foreign commerce, equal to two-thirds of 
the entire expenditure of the federal government. 
It has nevertheless sustained the expenses of its 
own administration, founded and endowed abroad 
system of education, charitable institutions for 
every class of the unfortunate, and a penitentiary 
establishment which is adopted as a model by 
civilized nations. It has increased four-fold the 
wealth of its citizens, and relieved them from 
direct taxation. And in addition to this, it has car- 
ried forward a stupendous enterprize of improve- 
ment, ail the while diminishing its debt, magnifying 
its credit, and augmenting its resources." 

This testimony is most unequivocal, and from 
a high source. It would, of itself, be all-suffi- 
cient. I will, however, add other high evidence. 

Mr. Ruggles' report, 1838, document 242, page 
13: "The treasury, in fact, is overflowing 
with the tolls derived from the canals; and to 
these tolls the state may legally and properly re- 
sort, for the purpose not only of meeting its pre- 
sent obligations, but of extending the benefits of in- 
ternal improvements to those hitherto neglected 
portions of its population, at whose common risk, 
and upon whose common credit, the canals were 
constructed." 

At page 18, same report, the beauties of a na- 
tional debt are patriotically urged : " Our fathers 
did not hesitate to encounter debt, even when the 
means of paying interest were unascertained and 
contingent ; and surely we may safely make a si- 
milar effort, now that we are certain that the re- 
venues of the state will suffice to pay the interest." 
It concludes by stating that the revenue is suffi- 
cient to discharge a debt of forty millions or 
dollars. 

I am also able to give the price of state stocks 
in the market, at this period, from the same au- 
thority : "Such moneys may be borrowed on five 
per cent, stocks, not under par, redeemable at the 
option of the government after 10 or 15 years. H 
—Page 26. 



12 



Mr. Ruggles concludes by recommending that 
the enlargement be so conducted, as to finish the 
work in five years from 1838. 

I now ask how he left it. This, too, I give 
from authority that has not been and cannot be 
questioned. (See Comptroller's report.) 

Aggregate stock debt, $24,737,749 00 

But to this must be added, 

New stock, 393,900 00 

General fund, 435,416 24 

Loaned to rail roads, 1,720,000 00 

$27,287,065 24 
Mr. Collier figured down the state debt to fif- 
teen millions, one year since. Michael Hoffman 
put it at $26,226,092 80. Add to this the bank 
losses, March and April act, canal repairs, and 
Chemung canal loan, since passed, and Mr. H. 
proves correct almost to a dollar. Thus it will 
be seen that Mr. Hoffman, at all events, told bold- 
ly the " whole truth, and nothing but the truth." 
But again, I assert that they destroyed the cre- 
dtt of the state, because, 

1. With full power by law to borrow, at the 
close of their administration, they could not raise 
a cent from capitalists. 

2. State fives, which brought par when the 
whigs came in power, were unmarketable, and 
even sixes were twenty-two per cent below par. 

3. In that, state sevens were^shunned^y foreign 
capitalists, and hung hoavily in the market, until 
after the election. 

4. In that, on the knowledge of the success of 
the democratic party, state credit revived, and its 
stocks were immediately in demand. 

5. In that, by their extravagance, they arrested 
the prosecution of the public w*orks. 

6. In that, they have made an increase of taxes 
unavoidable. 

7. In that, they have quadrupled the state debt, 
in four years. 

Can any man, capable of reasoning and drawing 
conclusions from premises, now deny that the 
whigs have run down and destroyed the credit of 
the state? The amount of town, county and state 
taxes, is estimated in the Comptroller's report at 
$3,625,811 44. This is more than one half of 
the entire circulating medium of the state. 

In 1840, the whigs kno w that the Ruggles' sinking 
fund was gammon ; and yet it is again commended 
by the canal commissioners. The call is repeat- 
ed in the strongest manner in 1841. Though none 
was granted, they went millions into temporary 
loans and arrearages. They lost the election; 
and though the balance of tolls, Sept. 30, was 
large, and an equally large amount was received 
in October to January, yet they lost these tolls in 
failing banks, and so applied them in retrospec- 
tive payments, that there was next to nothing left 
lo pay interest or open the canals. 

I must, however, hasten to a close, as I have 
already detained you too long. 

[It being after the usual hour of adjournment, 
Mr. W. Hall asked Mr. McM. if he would give 
way to a motion to rise and report. 

Mr. MelVtaRRAY : No, sir, I will finish to-day. 
I have already occupied two days; I cannot ask 
more.] 

I have references and authorities before me, for 
all I have said. So, too, in anything I may say, 
I am fortified, — but will not read more extracts, 
unless my positions are denied. The allegation 
that the people entered upon the enlargement of 
the Erie andChampIain canals, in consequence of 
under estimates of the cost, is not true. The cost 
had nothing to do with the project. The esti- 



mates did not pretend to be accurate. The plan 
has been since altered. And Mr. Patterson, in his^ 
report introducing the act for the more speedy 
enlargement, himself states that the actual cost 
will much exceed these rough estimates. It was, 
in fact, entered on with a full knowledge that 
these calculations would come far short. 

When Gov. Clinton opened his administration 
in 1825, it has been shown what splendid plans of 
improvement were promised the people. When 
Gov. Seward, the next representative of the fede- 
ral party, took the Executive chair, the like bril- 
liant schemes were projected. Indeed, the para- 
sites of the latter called him the second Clinton. 
I, for one, am perfectly willing to concede them 
both the honor of political brotherhood — though 
I must admit the pupil has somewhat improved 
upon his master! Our ancestors, poor souls, took 
the world very easy. When they looked upon 
our broatl lakes, our noble mountains, and our 
deep navigable rivers, with the fertile vallies a- 
long their banks, they very self-complacently and 
ignorantly supposed that nature had done tolera- - 
bly well by our country. They settled down in 
ignoble ease, in the tame cultivation of the soil. 
They lived in odd looking houses, and wore 
homespun clothes. They had very limited views 
of the blessings of " internal improvement." They 
seem never to have taken it into consideration, 
that great blunders were committed in making 
this world of ours, and particularly the state of 
New-York. Some vallies are too low, and then 
again some mountains inconveniently high — some 
rivers too deep, and others quite too shallow; — 
that many parts require patching up, and that 
some odds and ends were evidently overlooked 
and require finishing. Nor did it ever occur to 
them that a few millions a year, for a few centu- 
ries, would do the work very comfortably; and 
of that modern discovery in morals and finance, 
which devolves the payment of present debts up- 
on posterity — most fortunately for us— they were 
most profoundly ignorant. As New-York was 
"yet in her shell" during the dark ages of Gov. 
Clinton, (although this brilliant statesman seems 
to have picked very hard to get out of it,) and as 
the shell was only broken by the violent " im- 
pulse" of the Seward and Ruggles policy of 1838, 
the comparatively contracted views of Gov. Glin- 
ton are rather to be attributed to the age in which 
he lived, than to any want of comprehensiveness, 
or orthodoxy, on the subject of " internal im- 
provements." 

In all civilized governments in every age of 
the world, two grand divisions may be traced, 
existing at all times with more or less distinct- 
ness. I mean those who consider government a 
necessary engine of power to control the people, 
and those who look upon it merely as a social 
compact, which should exercise no other than 
the simplest functions requisite <br the protection 
of the life, liberty and property of the governed. 
The power of the former system depending on 
the few, always lives and thrives by ministering 
to the local feelings, the private interest, the av- 
arice, the ambition and the cupidity of its support- 
ers; and these constitute a band as subservient and 
as reliable as the best drilled and best paid stand- 
ing army. As, in a republican government feath- 
ered, belted and uniformed soldiery are looked 
upon with distrust by the people, sagacious tyrants 
prefer a mercenary body guard, stripped it is true 
of its epauletts and trappings, but nevertheless 
drilled, paid and officered. The more extensive 
the scope of state patronage, the larger, the better 



13 



drilled, and the more faithful become these min- 
isterial mercenaries. Tyrants of this school ad- 
vocate a national debt as a national blessing, and 
the doctrine of '.« improvements," because it leads 
to a national debt. The creditors of a nation, be- 
come a substitute for its standing soldiery, and 
those who are benefitted by the system of " in- 
ternal improvements," the lifeguard. The more 
diffused the debt the more diffused the army — the 
the larger the debt, the more dangerous and ef- 
fective it becomes against an unpaid and unbought 
people. 

When Cadmus conquered the dragon at the sa- 
cred waters of Mars, he buried his teeth in the 
earth, and they sprang up armed men, the 
ministers of his ambition. A state debt is a dan- 
gerous dragon to the people. It is buried from 
sight; but when government so wills, every dol- 
lar, like a dragon's tooth, assumes the semblance 
of an armed and subservient instrument of the 
governmental bondsman and paymaster. 

~ The day has passed when physical force will 
be resorted to to subdue the people. No, this they 
need not fear. It is the trickery of politicians, 
the subtle operations of systems of policy, and the 
resorts and subterfuges of diplomacy, that will 
more surely and effectively be resorted to, to 
produce results which open force would not dare 
essay. Of all means of degrading a people and 
binding them by indissoluble chains to the car of 
government, a state debt is the most subtle, certain 
and effective. Avarice enters the household of the 
wealthy and buys up his patriotism, when with 
princely courtesy he shows his " state bonds" ; and 
the tax gatherer like a grim mecenary at the door 
of the cottager, cowers his soul and crushes his en- 
ergies. It enslaves the former, and awes and sub- 
dues the latter. Statesmen know that it is the su- 
rest protection against change and revolution — 
that kind of revolution which is dear to the op- 
pressed, but which is now, and ever will be, ter- 
rible to tyrants. 

Now sir, I maintain that the distinction stated, as 
applied to the democratic republican and the fede- 
ral or whig party, both in the state and national 
administration, is as observable, as it has been in 
every other government and age. I shall how- 
ever, confine my observations entirely to matters 
of state legislation. 

During the last forty years, the federalists have 
elected but two governors of this state — governor 
Clinton and governor Seward. The former 
first in 1817, when commencing the Erie canal, 
was elected by both parties. Upon his re-elec- 
tion in 1825, however, by the reorganized fede- 
ral party, he recommended the wildest system of 
prodigality and extravagance known up to his 
day. And governor Seward, by a like policy, 
aided by a federal legislature, has increased the 
state debt four-fold. He has added to it, in the 
short space of four years and in a period of peace, 
more than twenty-seven millions of dollars. 

At the opening of the session of 1842, a crisis 
had arrived which admitted no longer of suppres- 
sion or concealment. The Executive in vain pa- 
raded the wealth and fancied resources of the 
state. His appeals to sectional feelings, though 
made with more than his accustomed zeal, met 
but a feeble response — even private cupidity but 
faintly importuned the prostrate and fallen resour- 
ces of the state. True whoever to the secret 
powers that gave him political existence, gover- 
nor Seward relaxed in no effort to stimulate the 
legislature to the further prosecution of the down- 
ward career of debt and extravagance. He even 



urges them to enlarge the ruinous efforts of the 
present, and to commence more comprehensive 
works for the future. The Comptroller follows 
in the footsteps of the Executive, and displays the 
fertility of an inventive mind by figuring down 
the debt of the state to the smallest possible sum, 
and by figuring up its resources; and the Canal 
Commissioners, including the late Attorney Gene- 
ral, follow the same lead. It is all in vain— the- 
ory has given place to fact — anticipation to reality. 
Hundreds of contractors at the doors of the two 
houses, hold up their unpaid bills in the faces of 
the members, and ask the means wherewith to 
pay the labores on the public works. Money 
lenders refuse to loan the state a cent. The banks, 
heretofore so subservient, but now in truth, evis- 
cerated by state loans, demand the repayment of 
their capital for the use of needy and waiting cus- 
tomers. Trade and commerce are paralyzed by 
the absorption of all floating capital and its per- 
manent investment in state funds. The ability of 
the state to meet its engagements is questioned, 
and the doctrine of repudiation, as the necessary 
result of whig policy, is foreshadowed. The 
spendthrift's career is brought to a close. 

The whigs of both houses, unlike the Execu- 
tive, are filled with consternation, in view of the 
ruin and disgrace impending. In the senate, Mr. 
Franklin introduced a series of resolutions, de- 
claring that the stale debts ought to be paid. A 
proposition never questioned. But he proposed 
no mode of meeting those debts, save his naked 
resolution. The architects of this ruin dare not 
meet the crisis. The Democracy, true to the in- 
terests of the state, apply the remedy and impose 
a tax. The people have sustained the measure; 
but have repudiated, not the debt, but the prodi- 
gal and the spendthrift contractors of it. 

Sir, I shall not now advocate taxation of the 
people. I deplore thenecessiiy of taxation — and 
more than all for such purposes. But the debt 
has been incurred. It must be paid. It can only 
be done by going info state bankruptcy, or by tax- 
ing the people. The former would entail upon 
the state lasting, irretrievable disgrace; the lat- 
ter draws from the hard earnings of laborers hun- 
dreds of thousands they can but ill-afford. Other 
debts may be postponed — may be compromised; 
but the tax gatherer insists upon immediate and 
full payment. The bushel of wheat, of corn, of 
produce, will not answer; he demands cash, and 
iron necessity compels its payment. 

Last session, one question remained unanswer- 
ed. It was this, — will the people bear a tax? — 
Will they sacrifice their comforts, their conven- 
ience, perhaps many of the necessaries of l,ife, 
solely for the honor of the state, and to pay the 
unjust debts of a prodigal administration? The 
problem has been solved — the question answered : 
They will. No, sir, they have. Even now, from 
every section of the state but one response is re- 
turned. The credit of the slate, at whatever cost, 
must and shall be maintained. The tax gatherer 
meets no rude greetings, receives no violence, 
listenes to no abuse. Its necessity is admitted for 
the present — the warning of the past is duly treas- 
ured — and a vigilant eye will be kept upon the 
future. The virtue, the integrity of the state, has 
been tried — the glory of our early history is un- 
tarnished — and a free people have asserted their 
own honor; they have met the payments contract- 
ed by faithless servants: but they have vindicated 
their intelligence at the same time, by discarding 
from their councils those who have so shameful- 
ly abused the trusts reposed in them. 



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